The ups and downs of Villefranche-sur-Mer

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We've been here for a few weeks now and have settled nicely into our little house in the hills. There is so much to see and do here. Some days we decide to venture out by car and some days we just want to go down to the village and walk around.

Sound relaxing? Not always. The French (or whomever built these roads) must have measured the narrowest vehicle (or chariot drawn by one horse) at the time they built them and created the incredibly narrow width of all roads here accordingly. In order to expedite the drive up the hills (or corniches as they are referred to here) there are many back to back hairpins turns that are at steep inclines. The roads are so narrow that the novice driver will need to come to a complete stop at the blind curves, honk the horn to notify any car possibly coming in the other direction that your car is about to approach, then cross your fingers and proceed to take the turn. Once into the hairpin your car is taking up almost the entire width of the road, there just isn't any other way to do it. The locals here don't even think about the dangers of these ridiculously narrow roads and blind turns, they speed up and down the corniches without a care. I've actually seen 2 cars negotiate a hairpin turn simultaneously but honestly don't know how they do it without a scratch.

They come speeding down our street going 30 plus MPH that feels like 70 when you are trying to get from your car across to the front door. There are no real sidewalks in the hills and no driveways. The house entrances and garages if you have one butt up right against the road and cars park on one side. To add to this difficult situation on any given day if there is no parking at all someone just parks their car ANYWHERE leaving their hazard lights flashing (or not) and traffic has to just deal with the car in the road........and the locals just don't care, they probably think "well there was no place to park so what can you do?" (said with the appropriate accent)

Driving out to discover and explore the gems hidden in alps or nestled by the sea comes with the notion that Tom our driver has to be on his toes at all times. You can't relax for a moment when you are behind the wheel. Among the hazards already mentioned are the motorcyclists. They are absurdly fearless as they dart in and out of the narrow lanes. In order to get around a car they will cross into the oncoming traffic lane, even around blind curves. If a car is there they just jump back into the right lane whether or not a car is there.

Upon leaving our house there comes a point where we need to turn left at an intersection with no signal or stop sign. In our early days here Tom would patiently wait for an opportunity to go, motorcycles come screaming from behind us and barrel right through the intersection without even slowing down. The locals seem to be okay with this type of aggressive driving. So Tom has become quite the French driver sprinkled with common sense. He no longer hesitates at a stop but forges out there, we discovered the oncoming cars actually expect you to try and squeeze in like a canned sardine and to that end like magic a hint of a tiny space between cars, almost impossible to see with the naked eye, emerges. Should you have nerves of steel now is the time to force your way out onto the road and it works. What the locals here hate is any type of flinching or hesitating while driving. It causes immediate horn honking, rapid unrecognizable french phrases and frantic gesticulating. Make your choice quickly and keep moving you will be respected for your efforts.

As crazy and dangerous as the roads are, on many occasions we will want to walk downhill to the harbor for dinner or shopping. The distance is only 1 kilometer (6/10 of a mile) but it is straight downhill. At some point in the distant past stairs were created just before the hairpin turn that leads to our house. Though the stairs are uneven in height, steep, cobbled and difficult to negotiate we are grateful we don't have to walk around the blind curves. As it is when we hear a car coming we scatter for cover behind a tree or press our backs against someone's gateway and hold our breath until the car passes. When cars are approaching from opposite directions.............well I just squeeze my eyes shut until I until I know they've passed. As we approach the main road a small "sidewalk" begins but it is barely 24 inches wide and on most occasions you will find a car parked on it. It's not only blocking the sidewalk forcing us to walk in the busy road but it is also blocking the road.

Once we cross the road (being appropriately thankful that there is an actual crosswalk and signal) we walk single file along the sidewalk and I laugh because we look like the Beatles on the cover of their Abbey Road album. We are walking with a purpose as quickly as possible as cars come speeding by us going at least 35 MPH you can feel the push of the air like a vortex as each car speeds past and you are praying you don't trip on the uneven pavement which could only send you sprawling into the oncoming traffic with no chance of survival. There does come a point on your journey to the harbor where we veer off the base corniche road and and follow the old road built hundreds of years ago as part of a fort to the harbor. This particular road is supposed to be one way at this point (most locals ignore the one way "suggestion") and slightly less traveled by cars. We relax and spread out a bit moving to one side as we hear a car or motorcycle coming. This is my favorite part of the walk and I often stop to take pictures of the harbor scenes.

Finally we reach the top most stairs that lead straight down to the restaurants, shops, and harbor just another ten minutes down. Ah we are here and I can hear the Mediterranean Sea gently lapping on the rocks as my skirt and hair billow in the soft breeze. We began to step down smiling like the Cheshire cat knowing that once again we have been successful in our endeavor to arrive here unscathed.

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